By Jim Scott
DNAinfo Senior Editor
MANHATTAN — An Elizabeth Taylor portrait painted by Andy Warhol could sell for upwards of $30 million at a Christie's auction in May, according to several reports.
The painting will be put up for auction on May 12 at Christie's. Hedge-fund manager Steve Cohen bought the rarely seen "Liz #5" silkscreen painting in 2005 for an undisclosed amount, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Cohen reportedly elected to put the painting up for auction two weeks before Taylor's death.
"The events are not connected," Giulia Costantini, spokeswoman for the London-based Phillips, told the L.A. Times.
The silkscreen painting previously belonged to Ileana Sonnabend, a prominent New York art dealer, before Cohen purchased it from her estate after her death in October 2007, the Times reported.
Warhol painted a series of Liz Taylor portraits in 1963, the same year the legendary actress was paid $1 million for her role in the movie "Cleopatra." It was one of 12 portraits Warhol painted of the starlet while she was recovering from a tracheotomy.
Warhol also painted similar portraits of pop culture icons Marilyn Monroe and Jacqueline Kennedy during the same time period.
Christie's sold actor Hugh Grant's 1963 Warhol portrait of Taylor, "Liz," for $23.5 million four years ago, the Journal reported.
Warhol's 1963 "Green Car Crash" sold at Christie's four years ago for $71.5 million, a record price for his paintings at auction. His "Eight Elvises" silkscreen portrait of Elvis Presley sold for $100 million in a private sale in 2009, the Economist reported.
